Urban Butterfly Gardening and Betond

It’s been a long while since I posted a picture of the garden as a whole. I thought it would be nice to contrast it against the very first pictures we took last spring, during our first exciting walk in … Continue reading →

Today’s New York Times features a great opinion article by Marielle Anzelone, the executive director of NYC Wildflower Week. It discusses the necessity of planting native wildflowers in urban settings. The article lays a little guilt on us urbanites for our tendency … Continue reading →

We spent a good hour picking aphids today. Our friends recommended an easy aphid control method: they wrap a piece of tape around their fingers and run it across the leaves and stems. All the aphids stick to the tape, … Continue reading →

The vegetable garden has been doing so well for its first year! We’ve already harvested about $80 worth of produce- mostly in the form of salad greens, radishes, and snow peas. But all those crops are waning in the final … Continue reading →

Early in January I was anticipating a need for more groundcovers in the butterfly garden and I pre-ordered a bunch of creeping phlox starters. They arrived in April and I didn’t expect them to bloom this year because they’re so … Continue reading →

When I plant perennials, I usually buy them small and plan on having to wait a year before I can see them bloom. So I can never quite predict exactly a new variety will fit in with its neighbors. Sometimes … Continue reading →

This time last week I was worried that my snow peas would never bloom. It had been nearly two months since they sprouted and they showed no sign of doing anything but growing straight up. I was also demoralized because … Continue reading →

This weekend we were able to score the season’s first strawberries at the Carroll Gardens Greenmarket, and they were delicious, but we’re looking forward to enjoying our own berries in only a few weeks. We have a lot of fruits … Continue reading →

I wanted to know! So this morning I thinned out the radish patch and pulled out a few small “Purple Plum” radishes that I deemed hopeless, plus one rogue white radish that was just big enough to add to today’s … Continue reading →

When you’re that small, a 4″ pot of scotch moss is a vast, golden meadow. Five baby mantises have made it their territory in the Chelsea Garden Center in Red Hook. I wouldn’t mess with them if I were you, … Continue reading →

Last week, I speculated that my newly potted ramps would not produce any new foliage this year, but it seems I could have been wrong about that. One of them is sending out a strong, red stem. I’m not sure … Continue reading →

In the last six hours New York City has already gotten more rain than in the whole month of April. Oh and the Fifth Avenue Apple Store flooded, which is crazy. I stepped out to make sure my potted tomatoes … Continue reading →